Andrew Smith
Senior Nutritional Agronomist 

Horticulture
Victoria

Experience and Expertise

Andrew Smith is a third-generation cherry grower and owner–manager of Smiths Fruit, nestled in the rich soils of Taminick, Victoria. Alongside his wife Janine, Andrew continues a proud family farming legacy that spans over 140 years, blending time-honored traditions with innovative horticultural prac​tices.

In the 2024 season, Andrew’s orchard produced a truly extraordinary crop: a premium, five-kilogram box of cherries, judged the finest of the season, was auctioned at Sydney Markets for A$165,000, with all proceeds—a record bid—supporting the Little Wings charity. This remarkable achievement not only highlights his dedication to excellence but also his generosity and community spirit. Andrew personally ensured the harvest, packing, and dispatch processes were meticulously managed, embodying the hands-on leadership he and Janine maintain across the orchard and packhouse operations.

Approach and Philiosophy

Driven by a genuine passion for cherries—“using the wonders of nature along with our genuine love of cherries, to produce the best fruit ever!”—Andrew invests in modern growing techniques while preserving the artisanal essence of fruit farming. Under his stewardship, Smiths Fruit has earned acclaim not only for top-quality produce but also for a forward-looking approach in Australian horticulture.

Beyond the Field

Today, Andrew channels that hands-on grower experience into his role as a senior agronomist with Hybrid Ag, where he helps fellow horticultural producers unlock the same orchard performance he's built into his own rows. Walking growers through the cherry season stage by stage, he translates decades of paddock-level learning into practical nutrition strategy — matching the right inputs to the right physiological window, fine-tuning programs with tools like differential sap analysis, and helping producers maximise cell division, fruit fill, and bud initiation across the season.

It's a perspective only a working grower can offer. When Andrew recommends a calcium program at full bloom or a post-harvest reset, he's drawing on what's worked — and what hasn't — across his own crop. That's the edge he brings to every HybridAg client, from boutique horticultural producers to large-scale commercial operations across Australia.